YREKA – The Tulelake man who pleaded guilty to attempted murder for slashing his stepfather's throat was sentenced Tuesday in the Siskiyou County Superior Court to 10 years in state prison.

Vallejo Josue Arias, 27, agreed to this sentence when he entered into a plea agreement with the Siskiyou County District Attorney's Office in February. Superior Court Judge Karen Dixon issued the sentence.

Under the California Three Strikes Law, the attempted murder charge is a strike offense, explained District Attorney Kirk Andrus. Arias has a previous felony strike. He accepted the offer of five years for the attempted murder charge and an additional five years for the previous strike offense in exchange for his guilty plea.

Andrus added that when Arias is released from custody, if he is convicted of another serious or violent felony, he will have three strikes and will receive a minimum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

Arias was charged with attempted murder in July 2012. According to Tulelake Police Department Chief Tony Ross, one of his officers spotted Arias running down the street covered in blood and screaming that he had killed his stepfather.

The officer made contact with the victim at the nearby Fifth Street residence, and discovered that he had sustained a knife wound to his throat.

According to police testimony, Arias had tried to slash the victim's throat repeatedly with a kitchen knife.

The victim was treated for his injuries and he made a full recovery.

Arias was on Post Release Community Supervision at the time of the incident, said Andrus.

Prior to his acceptance of the plea agreement, Arias was charged with assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm, inflicting corporal injury to a cohabitant and domestic violence in addition to attempted murder. He also faced a series of special allegations for his previous strike offense and for causing serious bodily injuries.